Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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EDITOR Chris Thatcher editorvanguard@netgov.ca CONTRIBUTORS Mark Norman Ken Hansen Jason Vaughan Philip Breedlove Doug Dempster Alexander Wilner Jeremy Littlewood Andrew Johnston Kevin Williams George Macdonald Jeff Mackey EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LGen (Ret'd) Bill Leach LGen (Ret'd) George Macdonald VAdm (Ret'd) Greg Maddison LGen (Ret'd) Michel Maisonneuve Ambassador Graham Green Professor Philippe Lagassé SALES VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC SECTOR SALES Terri Pavelic (905) 727-4091 ext. 225 terrip@netgov.ca NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Marcello Sukhdeo (905) 727-4091 ext. 224 marcellos@netgov.ca MARKETING DIRECTOR Mary Malofy ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Elena Pankova SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Aaryn Zhou circulation@netgov.ca CORPORATE PUBLISHER John R. 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VANGUARD OFFICE 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, ON L4G 4B6 Phone: (905) 727-4091 Fax: (905) 727-4428 WITH THE RELEASE OF THE DEFENCE ACQUISITION GUIDE (DAG) earlier this month, the Canadian Armed Forces have laid out an ambitious program to intro- duce and maintain new capability for the next 10-15 years. To be sure, this is not a shopping list. Rather, as the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff has stressed, it is a "commitment to engage industry early in the capability acquisi- tion process." This first dra has its early critics, and won't meet all the needs of the defence in- dustry. But it does provide a broad scope of Forces' activity in all operational domains, and in in-service support and other services, for at least the next decade. It's worth noting that the Royal Canadian Air Force has launched an equally timely initiative to engage with industry and academia, taking a step even further back in the procurement process to seek their help with concept development; more on that on page 26. The DAG describes over 200 projects. Some may never see the light of day, but a majority already have people, if not dollars, dedicated to them. Some are relatively small and straightforward; others are exceptionally complex. All, however, point to the need for skilled project managers – on both sides of the government and industry ledger. In the last issue, we described an initiative by the Department of National Defence to develop a framework for Project Management Competency Development. It's prin- ciple aim is to better align the skills of project managers with the complexities and risks of major capital procurements. In this issue, we share another key initiative that will improve competencies while also helping to bring defence managers and industry colleagues together. In 2015, the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa will offer Executive Master of Business degrees in complex program leadership and strategic procurement. The programs have been developed in partnership with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) of Brisbane in Australia and adapted for a Canadian context. As Doug Dempster, executive director of the Centre for Executive Leadership at Telf- er, explains on page 36, "Australia faced a perfect storm of complex project and pro- curement challenges a decade ago, centred on complex submarine and early-warning aircra projects. There was a comprehensive response that included definition of the competencies and attributes required by the leaders of these complex endeavours." The programs are being offered as a "complement" to the government's new De- fence Procurement Strategy and its industry innovation objectives, and with an aim to, among other things, helping "break the cycle of delays and failures oen seen in complex projects." More importantly, though, the programs may improve the level of trust between National Defence and industry as project managers, who have had to collaborate on difficult assignments in the classroom, work together in the real world. The Forces go to exacting measures to prepare soldiers, sailors and airmen and women for success in operations; it's time we put a similar commitment into prepar- ing the people who acquire the equipment to enable that success. Chris Thatcher, Editor E EDITOR'S NOTE 4 JUNE/JULY 2014 www.vanguardcanada.com Preparing our people